From 1941 to 1948, painter Anton Refregier decorated the lobby with twenty-seven
murals depicting the history of California. Refregier, an immigrant from Russia, was influenced by the social realism of Diego Rivera.
Like Rivera, he was suspected of being a Communist Party fellow traveler. The National Register listing resulted
largely from the significance of these murals. In fact, the Natiomal Park Service waived their Fifty-Year Rule.

The United States Postal Service retired Rincon Annex in 1985 and leased it to private developers. Along with two new buildings, it
was incorporated into Rincon Center, a full city block of apartments, stores, offices, and restaurants.

President Franklin Roosevelt came into office during the worst depression the nation had ever known. Fulfilling a campaign promise to put people to
work, he instituted the New Deal to bring economic recovery to the depression-wrought country.

The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of 1933 authorized the Public Works Administration (PWA) to provide jobs, stimulate business
activity, and increase purchasing power through the construction of permanent and socially useful public works. The Federal Government and
local city, county and state governments formed a working partnership resulting in the greatest single construction program in history.

PWA construction projects, in addition to providing employment for the skilled, generated a volume of jobs for the unskilled. The PWA
provided loans and grants up to forty percent of the total cost of the project to states, and many other public bodies, including
schools.

From 1933-1935, the PWA underwrote projects in 3,040 of the 3,073 counties in all forty-eight states. Of the 3.76 billion dollars of
the NIRA fund, 2.56 billion dollars was spent on 19,004 construction projects.

Narrative adapted in part from the NRHP nomination for Tulare Union High School Auditorium and Administration Building
dated 16 November 1999.

Many buildings funded by the PWA have been recognized for their historic significance and architectural excellence. Among them are: